Tandem roller hockey skate

ABSTRACT

A roller hockey skate includes a hockey boot, a pair of roller support blades rigidly attached to the bottom of the boot, and a set of four ground-engaging rollers mounted in tandem between the blades. Each roller preferably is made of a stiff material, such as hard rubber or plastic, and is about 2 3/4 inches in diameter with good lateral stiffness, which enables the user of the skate to achieve such maneuverability and high speeds that the skate performs in a manner comparable to ice skates. The front and rear rollers protrude beyond the front and rear, respectively, of the boot, which provides good balance when the user travels at high speeds over rough surfaces. The rollers are releasably attached to the roller support blades, and the front and rear rollers are adjustable vertically so that the degree of ground-engagement by the rollers can be varied in accordance with the user&#39;&#39;s skating style and experience.

United States Patent 1191 Silver 1111 3,880,441 14 1 Apr. 29, 1975 [73]Assignec: Super Skate Incorporated, Marina Del Rey. Calif.

1221 Filed: Nov. 8. 1973 211 Appl. 110.413.7751

Related US. Application Data [631 Continuation-impart of Scrv No.274.191. Jul 24.

1972. abandoned.

Primary lj.\wninm-David Schonberg Axsislunl I:'.tu1r1imr--Milton L.Smith Amirney. Agent. or Firm-Christie. Parker & Hale 157] ABSTRACT Aroller hockey skate includes a hockey boot, a pair of roller supportblades rigidly attached to the bottom of the boot. and a set of fourground-engaging rollers mounted in tandem between the blades. Eachroller preferably is made of a stiff material. such as hard rubber orplastic. and is about 2% inches in diameter with good lateral stiffness,which enables the user of the skate to achieve such maneuverability andhigh speeds that the skate performs in a manner comparable to iceskates. The front and rear rollers protrude beyond the front and rear.respectively of the boot. which providcs good balance when the usertravels at high speeds over rough surfaces, The rollers are rcleasablattached to the roller support blades. and the front and rear rollersare adjustable x'crticall so that the degree of ground-engagement by therollers can be \aricd in accordance with the users skating style andcspcrience.

9 Claims. 3 Drawing Figures 1 TANDEM ROLLER HOCKEY SKATE CROSS-REFERENCETO RELATED APPLICATION This is a continuation-in-part of my applicationSer. No. 274,19l, filed July 24, I972, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to tandem rollerskates, i.e., skates in which a single row of rollers are attached tothe botton of the skake. More particularly, the invention relates to atandem roller hockey skate which achieves the speed, maneuverability,and balance normally associated with ice skates.

In the past, a variety of roller skates have veen devised in which aseries of rollers are arranged in tandem on the skate. The purpose ofsuch skates generally has been to simulate the performance of iceskates, especially so that the skate will be suitable for use in figureskating. However, the prior art tandem roller skates have not beendesigned in such a way that they can simulate the speed,maneuverability, balance, and faststart capability of ice skates.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly, this invention provides a tandemroller hockey skate which includes a boot having an elongatedfoot-supporting base, rigid roller support means extending down from theunderside of the footsupporting base, and a set of four longitudinallyspaced apart rollers mounted in tandem on the roller support means. Therollers are arranged to provide a front roller, a pair of intermediaterollers, and a rear roller, all of which are engageable with the groundin unison. Each roller is at least about 2%inches in diameter. Therollers also have ground-engaging portions made of a stiff material,such as hard rubber or plastic, and are adapted to provide good lateralstiffness as well as stiffness in compression.

I have discovered that the use of four hard rollers mounted in tandemand of a size at least about 2% inches in diameter (which is larger thanthe rollers used in most conventional roller skates having three or morerollers in tandem) makes it possible for the user of the skate to obtainthe speed, maneuverability, balance. and fast-start capability normallyobtained with ice skates. The small size of prior art rollersor the useof a resilient material in such rollers. limits the speed, fast-startcapability, and maneuverability of the prior art skates to such anextent that the user is unable to simulate the performance of iceskates.

The rollers are arranged so that the front roller protrudes forward ofthe tip of the foot-supporting base, and the rear roller protrudesrearward of the tail end of the foot-supporting base. This arrangementof rollers aids the user in fast-starting and achieving good balance,especially when travelling at high speeds over rough surfaces.

Since the roller skate is capable of simulating the performance of iceskates, it is especially suitable for use indoors on gymnasium floors,or outdoors on hard surfaces such as streets, playgrounds, and parkinglots, by hockey players or those who are learning the game and who donot have a nearby ice skaking rink at their disposal.

These and other aspects of the invention will be more fully understoodby referring to the following detailed description and the accompanyingdrawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is an elevation view showing atandem roller hockey skate embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. I; and

FIG. 3 is a plan elevation view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to thedrawing. a tandem roller hockey skate 10 includes an ankle-supportingboot I2 and a pair of longitudinally aligned rollers 14 mounted intandem below the underside of the boot. Preferably, boot I2 is a hockeyboot, because the skate is especially useful in practicing and playinghockey on hard surfaces.

Preferably, there are four rollers attached to the un derside of theboot in a ground-engageablc position. The rollers are attached to theboot by a pair of longitu dinally extending and parallel roller supportmembers. each of which includes a downwardly projecting elongated blade16, and a pair of longitudinally spaced apart, horizontally disposedfront and rear supports I8, l9 extending at right angles with respect tothe blades. The blades are rigidly secured to the foot-supporting base20 of the boot by bolts 22, and nuts 24 are threaded onto the shank ofeach bolt and tightened against the underside of base 20.

As shown best in FIG. 2, each roller 14 includes a sealed roller bearing26 having a transverse opening 28 extending through it. A pair ofopposed nylon sleeves 30 are inserted in the ends of each opening 28.The sleeves provide a fixed shaft about which the rollers rotate, andalso act as spacers between the outer edges of the rollers and the inneredges of the blades. The side of each roller is recessed in its center,and a pair of opposed rigid metal support plates 29 are sealed in theopposite recessed portions of each roller. The metal plates ofeachroller are held in place by suitable fasteners (not shown) such asscrews which extend transversely through the roller from one sidethereof and are tightened by nuts on the opposite side of the roller.Metal support plates 29 provide good lateral stiffness for the rollerswhich is especially necessary when the skater is travelling at highspeeds which his skates held on a cant angle relative to the verticalplane.

Sleeves 30 of each roller are aligned with collinear holes 32 in theblades, and an elongated externally threaded bolt 34 extends throughsleeves 30 and holes 32. A separate nut 36 is threaded onto the shank ofeach bolt and is tightened against the outer wall of the blade.

As shown best in FIG. 1, the roller support blade's 16 comprise a pairof opposed, vertically extending, elongated slotted openings 38 formounting the axle shaft of the front roller, and a second pair ofopposed vertically extending elongated slotted openings 40 for mountingthe axle shaft of the rear roller. These slotted openings provide meansfor adjusting the type of contact between the ground and the rollers.For example, all four rollers may be mounted to the support blades sothat they contact the ground in unison. This provides good iceskate-simulating performance, because of the large amount of rollingcontact between the four large rollers and the ground. Alternatively,the four and rear rollers can be moved to a position slightly higherthan the intermediate rollers. so the user of the skate can obtain arocker effect" from the rollers. which is desirable to some skaters. Ahorizontally c\- tending. elongated slotted opening 42 allowslongitudinal adjustment in the position of an intermediate roller so thespacing on both sides of it can be varied. Thus. the skater is allowedto adjust the type of ground contact of his skate to suit his particularskating style and experience.

Morem er. since the rollers are releasabl attached to the rollermounting blades. each of the rollers can be removed and reversed toobtain an even amount of wear on each side of each roller.

Preferably. rollers 14 are at least about 2% inches in diameter and aremade of a stiff. substantially nonresilient material. such as hardrubber or plastic. The traction surfaces of the rollers are rounded(when the roller is viewed on end as in PK). 2 which improves themanewerability of the skate when compared with a skate having rollerswith flat traction surfaces.

In use. roller skate l performs in a manner akin to ice skates becauseof a combination of factors. The rol lers are larger than those of knownconventional roller skates having four rollers in tandem. For example.rol lers l6 prmide a relatively long stroke length (since they protrudebeyond and behind the tip and tail end. respectively. of the skate). andbecause ofthe large size of the rollers (the combined spacing betweenthe rollers is not greater than the diameter of any one roller) combinedwith the long stroke length. the skate provides a large amount ofrolling contact with the ground which enables the skater to simulate theperformance of ice skates. Tests conducted with my skate have shown thatit is possible to travel at substantially higher speeds. and with betterfast-start capability and highspeed maneuverability than on tandemskates having smaller rollers or rollers made of a resilient materialsuch as soft rubber. If the rollers are made of soft rubber. or iftherollers have lateral flexibility. for example. the fast-startingcapability and maximum speed of the skate is too limited to simulate thebehavior of ice skates. Moreover. the rollers are carried on rollersupport blades which are rigidly attached to the anklesupporting bootworm by the user. This provides better performance than skates which arereleasably attached to the users shoe. because the rigid connectionbetween the support blades and the boot avoids lost motion which tendsto be present with skates which are releasably clamped to the usersshoe.

The front and rear rollers protrude in front of and to the rear of thetip and tail ends. respectively, of the boot base member 20. The twointermediate rollers support and properly balance the weight of theuser. The rotational axes ofthe front and rear rollers preferably are infront of and to the rear of the top and tail ends. respectively. of basemember 20. This long stroke provided by the roller arrangement gives theskate good stability and adds to its fast-start action during use Thestability ofthe skate is improved by the rollers protruding beyond thefront of and rear of the skate. because in instances where the frontroller. or maybe another roller. comes into contact with an impediment.such as a crack in a playground surface. the long track provided by theremaining three rollers helps the skater to maintain good balance untilhe recovers from contact with the impediment.

Thus. my skate is especially suitable for use by hockey players eitherin practice or in games played on hard surfaces other than ice. l'his isespecially useful because the skate can be used on gymnasium floors.other suitable hard surfaces. such as streets and playgrounds. which aregenerally more available to such athletes than ice skating rinks.

l Claim:

1. A tandem roller hockey skate comprising a boot for receiving a footof a user and adapted to provide support for the ankle of the usersfoot. the boot also having a foot-supporting base. rigid rollersupporting means extending down from the underside of the footsupportbase. means for rigidly attaching the roller support means to thefoot-support base. a set of four longitudinally spaced apart rollersmounted in tandem on the roller support means. the roller including afront roller. two intermediate rollers. and a rear roller. each rollerbeing at least about 2% inches in diameter and having a ground-engagingportion made of a relatively stiff material adapted to providesubstantial lateral rigidity during use. the rollers being mounted tothe roller support means so they are engageable with the ground inunison. the front roller being mounted to the roller support means soits axis of rotation is forward of the tip of the foot-support base. andin which the rear roller is mounted to the roller support means so itsaxis of rotation is behind the tail end of the foot-support base.

2. A tandem roller hockey skate according to claim 1 in which the meansfor mounting the forward and rear rollers to the roller support areadjustable vertically closer to the boot than the intermediate rollersso that the bottoms of the rollers can be aligned along a substantiallyarcuate path.

3. A tandem roller hockey skate according to claim 1 in which theground-engaging portions of the rollers are made of hard rubber or hardplastic.

4. A tandem roller hockey skate according to claim 1 in which a portionof each roller has a major portion thereof comprised of a relativelystiff material. and including a separate rigid metal plate on each sideof the stiff material which comprises the central portion of the rollerand in direct contact therewith to provide good lateral support for theroller during use.

5. A tandem roller hockey skate according to claim 4 in which each plateextends at least about one-half the diameter of the roller.

6. A tandem roller hockey skate according to claim 1 in which eachroller is releasably attached to the roller support means.

7. A tandem roller hockey skate according to claim 1 in which the meansfor mounting the forward and rear rollers to the roller support areadjustable vertically closer to the boot than the intermediate rollersso that the bottoms of the rollers can be aligned along a substantiallyarcuate path. and in which a separate rigid metal plate is mounted oneach side of each roller to provide lateral support for the rollersduring use.

8. A tandem roller hockey skate according to claim 7 in which each rigidplate extends at least about onehalf the diameter of the roller.

9. A tandem roller hockey skate according to claim 8 in which eachroller is releasably attached to the roller support means.

* l l k

1. A tandem roller hockey skate comprising a boot for receiving a footof a user and adapted to provide support for the ankle of the user''sfoot, the boot also having a foot-supporting base, rigid rollersupporting means extending down from the underside of the foot-supportbase, means for rigidly attaching the roller support means to thefoot-support base, a set of four longitudinally spaced apart rollersmounted in tandem on the roller support means, the roller including afront roller, two intermediate rollers, and a rear roller, each rollerbeing at least about 2 3/4 inches in diameter and having agroundengaging portion made of a relatively stiff material adapted toprovide substantial lateral rigidity during use, the rollers beingmounted to the roller support means so they are engageable with theground in unison, the front roller being mounted to the roller supportmeans so its axis of rotation is forward of the tip of the foot-supportbase, and in which the rear roller is mounted to the roller supportmeans so its axis of rotation is behind the tail end of the foot-supportbase.
 2. A tandem roller hockey skate according to claim 1 in which themeans for mounting the forward and rear rollers to the roller supportare adjustable vertically closer to the boot than the intermediaterollers so that the bottoms of the rollers can be aligned along asubstantially arcuate path.
 3. A tandem roller hockey skate according toclaim 1 in which the ground-engaging portions of the rollers are made ofhard rubber or hard plastic.
 4. A tandem roller hockey skate accordingto claim 1 in which a portion of each roller has a major portion thereofcomprised of a relatively stiff material, and including a separate rigidmetal plate on each side of the stiff material which comprises thecentral portion of the roller and in direct contact therewith to providegood lateral support for the roller during use.
 5. A tandem rollerhockey skate according to claim 4 in which each plate extends at leastabout one-half the diameter of the roller.
 6. A tandem roller hockeyskate according to claim 1 in which each roller is releasably attachedto the roller support means.
 7. A tandem roller hockey skate accordingto claim 1 in which the means for mounting the forward and rear rollersto the roller support are adjustable vertically closer to the boot thanthe intermediate rollers so that the bottoms of the rollers can bealigned along a substantially arcuate path, and in which a separaterigid metal plate is mounted on each side of each roller to providelateral support for the rollers during use.
 8. A tandem roller hockeyskate according to claim 7 in which each rigid plate extends at leastabout one-half the diameter of the roller.
 9. A tandem roller hockeyskate according to claim 8 in which each roller is releasably attachedto the roller support means.